I have really been into hiking this past couple years and my brother in-law decided he wanted me to take him and my nephew on a hike. There were a couple to choose from, so I decided to do a medium type hike and thought Lake of the Angels in the Olympics would be good. We also decided to camp there for a couple nights as well and hopefully make it a couple miles more to Hagen lakes which holds bigger trout and is secluded from most hikers.

As it turned out the hike to Hagen was a little over my nephews comfort zone (with snow still covering the trail and part of the headwall to climb down), so we decided to stay at Angel for the weekend. I was proud that my nephew knew his limitations and decided to play it safe. Overall it was a good experience for both of them and got a father and son outdoors. Now, hopefully they will do it more often.

We started hiking around 6:30 to 7 friday and arrived at the lake at 10. The trailhead is 1600ft and the lake is about 5300ft.

first morning


first night freeze


morning visitors




Long johns and boots kind of morning



saddle to get to Hagen and bigger trout



The climb without packs was a little to steep for them.



They didn't mind though

















Great Weekend

So cool!

Pretty cool stuff right there.Looks kinda nippy though.Good luck,
SZ

Really great stuff. Makes my planned hike to Peet Lake look like a stroll in the park. One of the few times I wish I was younger.

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

Nice photos.

It is amazing to think that such beauty exists typically without witness.



"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
Thomas Gray



Your pictures are stunning and make me wish I had more time

Great report and nice pics.......

I hiked in to Cougar lake in William O Douglas wilderness last weekend and broke my damn rod on the way in. Sat there and watched about a 100 trout jumping per each minute-Doh.

Always enjoy your top-shelf hiking photos dude

Thank you everyone.

Awesome photos. Nice to see you showing your nephew that sanity can be found in western wa.

That brings back some good memories! Nice photos and good report.

I've been up there a couple times, such a great place. The hike up the saddle to Hagen isn't too bad if you follow the trail, which is hard to see in the snow... If you want to get to Hagen another way you can access it above Upper Lena Lake if I recall, pretty steep climb but there is a good trail.

Did you use the Putvin trail to get up to the lake? If so, can you drive up to the trailhead now? There was a washout on the forest road, I don't know, 15 years ago which added 3-4 miles of road hiking and a steep drop into the washout in order to access the Putvin trailhead.

Good stuff.

Beautiful.

Awesome pics - thanks for the share!

If you don't mind me asking, how far did you have to hike up the road to get to the Putvin trail trailhead? I haven't been up there in years, and have heard conflicting reports about how far up the road you have to hoof it to get to the trail.

Thanks.

Wow. I love the pictures with the goats. And so close.

TedR and Dan S., as someone said you can go to the end of the road now. We have been able to for the past few years. It used to be by truck only, due to boulders and washout but cars have access now.
Also, we started at Putvin.

Thanks.

I was thinking I might go up there this summer, but your pics reminded me that I'd probably die, so I may have to reconsider.

Lol, Its not that bad.

Quiet you - if you'd have tried it a year ago, you'd be laying dead at the tree line right about now.

I actually prefer the Mildred hike for the change in elevation while hiking(ups and downs). Its easier on the knees and legs. Angel is all up and then all down. The last incline going to Mildred has no comparison though. But once you get there its nice, I caught all my bigger trout at the middle lake.
Also, Mildred is all about fishing and Angel is exploring with little bit of fishing (to me anyways)

This is my friends fish


I took the float tube